MCTC Offers Hemp Education Course for Spring 2020 Semester

December 17, 2019

Maysville, KY – Do to a growing interest, Maysville Community & Technical College
is offering an Introduction to Hemp Production course this Spring. Farmers and the
business community are expressing a need for more education related to growing hemp
crops. MCTC seeks to provide the tools to cultivate this crop in Kentucky and increase
healthier plants and yields.

Acela Bio Medical Inc. is a hemp processing facility located in Maysville, KY that
supports increased learning options and the efforts of MCTC to meet the needs of the
community in the hemp industry. As part of their mission to help rebuild the family
farm, the business contracted with 120 local growers in 2019. Andrew Culbertson, CEO
states, “Acela promotes the education of each farmer. In this new and daily evolving
industry, education is the only way to survive.”

Carrie Taylor, Horticulturist and Workforce Solutions instructor at MCTC acknowledges
that farming is a mixture of cyclical demands, which need to be consistently identified
through business and industry as they evolve. “Many farmers who’ve grown tobacco and
other crops in this region recognize the challenges that exist in nature. They understand
there are basic science-based criteria that improve crop production.

Taylor also adds that after completing one year of growing in 2019, farmers have identified
a need for more information relating to this crop. Growers and entrepreneurs have
a diversity of training demands, so MCTC looks to fill that need with short term training
in the near future.

The class will encompass topics and issues benefitting growers and business professionals,
focusing on foundational concepts and theories applied directly to field production
and distribution. Other topics will focus on science-based concepts related to cannabis
or hemp, such as: temperatures, sunlight, soil, and how these effect growing cycles,
how the plant absorbs water and nutrients, and how these elements affect the plants
chemical make-up and genetics.

There are no pre-requisites for the 12-week course beginning in January 2020, HRT
150, Business Management: Intro. To Hemp Production. Potential students can contact
Mollie Malone, Admissions Consultant at: 606.759.7141 EXT. 66185 for more information.